Cultural Heritage and History

Cultural heritage and history can provide a sense of unity and belonging within a community and can help to define our identity. It allows us to better understand previous generations, the history of where we come from and how we are connected.

By gathering information about our local history and heritage and knowing what has happened in the past, we are better able to create a successful future.

Cultural diversity

To determine the level that our community embraces cultural diversity, respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with the statement ‘Cultural diversity has a positive impact on the community’ as part of the Community Wellbeing Monitor Survey 2016 (10).

A total of 411 respondents completed this year’s Community Wellbeing Monitor Survey.

Data Analysis

There were a total of 23 participants who did not provide a response for this question, who were excluded from the analysis.

In 2016, the large majority of respondents (79.4 per cent) either ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ that cultural diversity does have a positive impact on the community, with only 3.9 per cent of respondents ‘disagreeing’ or ‘strongly disagreeing’ with this statement (Figure 1).

Figure 1:The extent respondents agreed that cultural diversity has a positive impact on the community, City of Onkaparinga, 2013 and 2016

Trend Analysis

In the 2016 survey there was an increase of 1.9 per cent in the proportion of respondents who agreed with the statement that cultural diversity has a positive impact on the community, when compared with the 2013 survey (Figure 1). There was a reduction in the proportion of people who disagreed with the statement (decrease of 33.3 per cent) and respondents who reported being ‘neutral’ (decrease of 8.5 per cent).

Policy implications

As outlined in Community Plan Objective 2.4 Celebrate Local Cultural Heritage and History, the City of Onkaparinga will continue to promote local Aboriginal culture and the city’s local heritage, particularly through online technologies including the ‘History and Heritage’ and ‘Arts and Culture’ website pages on the City of Onkaparinga website. The city will also continue to ensure that local cultural diversity and multicultural history is celebrated, particularly through the provision and support of events and festivals. The implementation of the Placemaking and Land Use Strategies will continue to achieve the Community Plan Objective 2.4 Celebrate Local Cultural Heritage and History. Moreover, all of the above roles that the City of Onkaparinga currently contributes to Local Cultural Heritage and History will continue to be strengthened with the current development of both the Community Capacity and Culture Strategy and the Cultural History and Heritage Strategic Management Plan.

Local history and heritage

To determine the level that our community embraces local history and heritage, respondents were asked to what extent they agreed with the following statements as part of the Community Wellbeing Monitor Survey 2016 (10):

Information about our local history and heritage should be collected and maintained for future generations, and

Our local history is an important part of the community’s identity.

A total of 411 respondents completed this year’s Community Wellbeing Monitor Survey.

Data Analysis

Importance of local history and heritage

There was a total of 19 participants who did not provide a response for this question, who were excluded from the analysis.

In 2016, 84.4 per cent of respondents ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ that local history is important to the community’s identity, with only 1.5 per cent disagreeing with this statement (Figure 2).

Figure 2: The extent respondents agreed with the importance of local history on the community’s identity, 2013 and 2016

There was a total of 20 participants who did not provide a response for this question, who were excluded from the analysis.

In 2016, 93.9 per cent of respondents ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ that local history and heritage should be maintained for future generations, with only 0.3 per cent disagreeing with this statement (Figure 3).

Figure 3:The extent respondents agreed that local history and heritage should be maintained for future generations, City of Onkaparinga, 2013 and 2016

Trend Analysis

Importance of local history and heritage

When compared with 2013 responses, there was a slight decrease in the proportion of respondents who ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ (decrease of 6.4 per cent) that local history and heritage is important to the community’s identity (Figure 2). There was an increase by 40.8 per cent in the proportion of respondents who ‘disagreed’ or ‘strongly disagreed’ with the statement in 2016, and an increase of 59.2 per cent in the proportion of respondents who reported feeling neutral about whether local history is important to the community’s identity.

Maintaining local history and heritage

When compared with 2013 responses, there was a decrease in the proportion of respondents who ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘agreed’ (decrease of 1.9 per cent) that local history and heritage should be maintained for future generations (Figure 3). There was an increase by 33.3 per cent in the proportion of respondents who ‘disagreed’ or ‘strongly disagreed’ with the statement in 2016.

Policy Implications

While in 2016 there was a slight decrease in the proportions of respondents who believed that local history and heritage is important to the community, and that history and heritage should be maintained for future generations, the important outcome is that an extremely high proportion of residents still agree with these statements.

Our role in service provision will continue through City of Onkaparinga libraries where documentation related to local history and heritage will be collected, maintained and made accessible to our community. The promotion of our local history and heritage will continue through the City of Onkaparinga’s website and also through the City of Onkaparinga Libraries. The City of Onkaparinga will also ensure that our cultural, natural and built heritage will be preserved through the provision of a number of initiatives including a heritage advisory service, heritage grants for conservation work to local heritage buildings, local heritage inventories, workshops on traditional skills and techniques and Heritage Conservation Plans for council owned buildings.

The above roles that the City of Onkaparinga currently contributes to Local Cultural Heritage and History will continue to be strengthened with the current development of the Community Capacity and Culture Strategy and the Cultural History and Heritage Strategic Management Plan.

This indicator is linked to other strategies, plans and targets outlined below:

Government of South Australia South Australia’s Strategic Plan Targets: